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Landeros Jennifer

Professor Holly Batty

English 101

5/10/2017

The Journey of Rodrigo

The novel Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza is full of all kinds of different characters

that face a challenging experience. The character I will be writing about is the fifteen year old

boy named Rodrigo. I will be demonstrating on how he had to overcome and experienced many

obstacles in order to provide for his family. He was a sex trafficker who then got sold to a client

who sexually abused him. He would think about his family back in his hometown San Miguel

and that gave him the motivation to continue earning money. Although many people would say

that Rodrigo is not saint like, I say Rodrigo is saint like because he shows that he is courageous,

benevolence, and proves his empowerment. Rodrigo shows he is courageous because he decides

to cross the border at age fifteen. He shows that he is benevolence towards his family and wants

to provide for them. Although he falls into the wrong hands he never loses hope and tries to

empower his freedom by doing something he thought he would never have to do.

Just before his fifteenth birthday he decides to do a courageous act. He decides to leave

San Miguel his hometown and hopes to cross into the United States just like his siblings did.

Rodrigos father tells him Be careful, That city is dangerous. (Rodrigo's father, 161.) Despite

the advice his father gives him, that doesn't scare him off and doesn't change his mind. San

Miguel was turning into a hopeless place where there was no jobs and he couldn't stay. Knowing

that he had to leave his family behind and that he was going on a dangerous journey made him a
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stronger person, for taking the decision to leave. There is many reasons why teens decide to cross

the border for example Rodrigo from Saint water saints needs to in order to provide for his

family and others decide to cross because they want to reunite with family members. In the

article Women crossing the U.S. border face sexual assault with little protection, by Jude

Joffe-Block, The girl came from the southern state of Oaxaca and was crossing to meet her

parents in the U.S the minor who can only be identified by her first initial L due to her being a

minor as told by Peter Bidegain, the public information officer for Border Patrols. This teenager

along with Rodrigo have a strong reason to cross the border.

Compassion and benevolence is what Rodrigo felt and that motivated him to make

money for his family. When Rodrigo arrives to Tijuana he meets some guy named Felix who

shows him how to work at el dompe. He promises to look out for him, take care of him and to

provide him with money. It was to good to be true for him, he put condition of Rodrigo having

to give him something in return. In order for him to make money he had to touch him in a sexual

way. He thought of his mother and father back home, waiting for money. (Rodrigo, 163.) If

that's not already enough he ends up homeless with little money, he is desperate to make money

for his family back in his hometown. He meets Chino who gives him a job as a sex trafficker and

then gets sold to a client called Dwight. This client only wants him to himself and smuggles him

from Mexico. He then holds him captive, threatens and mistreats him. I'm not saying that every

teen that crosses the border gets sexually assaulted but in the article Homeless Youth at High

Risk of Human Trafficking, The vulnerability children experience when they are

alone,hungry,and without shelter on the streets make them particularly susceptible to trafficking,:

said Ryan, president and chief executive of Covenant House, a shelter for homeless. Just like
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Rodrigo in the book Still water saints he struggled trying to earn money, and ends up in the

wrong hands who then turns him into a sex slave.

In order to empower his freedom he kills the old man who watched him held captive

naked in the dark room. The bag of shells and rocks you put there. I take it. Squeeze like a fist.

And swing and swing. I hear crunching, feel his hands go loose. His glasses fall off and break. I

swing and swing. Over and over until he wont move.( Rodrigo 173-174) He only has time to

grab his boots and clothes runs out to get help from Perla. Just in the article Women crossing

the U.S. border face sexual assault with little protection, by Jude Joffe- Block. We have a

brave young girl who was able to speak up, we have members of the group who witnessed the

crime, and we have alleged rapist in our custody, Peter Bidegain, the public information officer

for border patrol. She was sexually abused and mistreated by her coyote and was able to open up

about it and justice was done for her. He finds himself breaking the barriers and knowing that he

can be beaten or killed, he commences to talk to Perla but not looking so much for help but

guidance. Rodrigo finds himself telling Perla everything about his abuser. Rodrigo after being

beaten brutally finds himself seeking for help by Perla but panics and disappears. Leaving him

with no justice being made for his abuse.

What seemed to be the steps for a better life ended being or horrific story of a young

man. Rodrigo only 15 from the state of Michoacan Mexico headed north just to find himself in

his own dead trap. From leaving his state, to finding himself being raped and abused in the

border town of Tijuana Mexico. Rodrigos dreams were slowly being crushed as he then found

himself being sold as a slave, not just any slave but as a sex slave. His dreams of coming into the
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states were crumbled little by little, he found himself trapped. After the beatings, the mental

abuse, and the rapes, he broke through, broke through just to never be heard of again.
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Work Cited

Joffe-Block, Fronteras Jude. "Women Crossing the U.S. Border Face Sexual Assault with Little
Protection." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

"Homeless Youth at High Risk of Human Trafficking." The New York Times. The New York
Times, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Espinoza, Alex. Still Water Saints: A Novel. London: Picador, 2013. Print.